I've done several knives with this new jig and what I've noted is that whenever you use a knife that has a powder coating finish it puts wear on the coating there and sort of leaves a dent/scrape. I don't mind personally but I sharpen knives for others and some people are very picky about wear spots and seem to not use their knives. I have not tried a satin finished knife yet but it's coming next and have the same concern here. I had a thought to wrap the blade with painter's tape there but wasn't sure how secure the blade would be fixed into the jig with that extra material there and quite possibly it may steel leave marks there from compressive forces. Anybody have anything to offer here?
Welcome to the forum, Chris.
The most promising suggestion I have seen was from our late member, Wootz (Vadim of Knife Grinders). Wootz sharpened some very high end knives. He routinely placed cloth tape on the spine of the knives he sharpened.
(Wootz also wrapped the handles of fine knives with clear wrap.) His youtube channel (knifegrinders.au) is well worth watching.
Ken
Thanks for the welcome and the tip. Can't help but wonder if you could be more specific as to what kind of cloth tape he used. I see 3M sells a bunch of different kinds from glass cloth to cotton, etc.
This seems like it might be exactly what you are referring to.... https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-16003/3M-Electrical-Tape/3M-1755-Cotton-Friction-Tape-3-4-x-60
I can't help but wonder though whether the marks on the wear spots are from friction or by compressed force/pressure. If it's pressure related, I wonder if the tape would stop the coating from being sort of 'dented'.
I use blue painters' tape, which works fine.
I use 3M No Residue duct tape, fairly water resistant so can be reused many times. No residue to clean off saves time! In fact, I need to buy my second roll today.
Think I'm going to give this one a try, cheap enough. 2" wide makes just wide enough for the KJ-45 to snip a small piece off. Easy removal, high abrasion resitance. Looking at my KJ-45 where it contacts the blade, it does appear to be an abrasion... likely vibration makes for slight rubbing in the high spots.
https://www.grainger.com/product/3M-Cloth-Tape-High-Temp-Sealing-15C124?opr=ILOF
You could also try taping the clamp.
Quote from: cbwx34 on July 17, 2022, 06:56:57 PM
You could also try taping the clamp.
That's a good tip, hadn't thought of trying that.
Quote from: cbwx34 on July 17, 2022, 06:56:57 PM
You could also try taping the clamp.
Forum member, Brian Phelps, makes adhesive protecting pads for the SVM-45 and SVM-140. I use them and prefer them to taping the knife blades. I think the SVM-140 pads could be cut down to fit the KJ-45. I rarely use the wider jigs, so I wouldn't worry about them. The pads come as a set of two, one small, one large. The set costs around $10 USD. Here is a link:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BootheelCustoms
Ken
This video by Wootz (Knife Grinders) demonstrates an excellent technique for protecting knife finishes on both the blade and handle. If you want to do top drawer sharpening on top quality knives, it is well worth studying. Here is a link:
https://youtu.be/BBmZINd9RgQ
Ken
I use good ole fashioned hockey tape as it's a fabric tape. It works well and is extremely cheap.
Quote from: Azazell64 on July 20, 2022, 03:57:09 AM
I use good ole fashioned hockey tape as it's a fabric tape. It works well and is extremely cheap.
Do you use it on the blade? Does it come off cleanly from the steel?
Quote from: 3D Anvil on July 16, 2022, 05:30:44 AM
I use blue painters' tape, which works fine.
Well, I don´t do any high end knifes so this blue painters´ tape is enough to me and it won´t leave any glue residue.
Tape thicker than blue painter's tape helps take up the space created by the angle in the blade spine, and so clamps blades tighter. Vadim has a video where he has to put on more than one layer to compensate for very steep spine angles.
Quote from: BeSharp on July 26, 2022, 05:30:15 PM
Tape thicker than blue painter's tape helps take up the space created by the angle in the blade spine, and so clamps blades tighter. Vadim has a video where he has to put on more than one layer to compensate for very steep spine angles.
With the new knife jig? Shouldn't have to. ???
Ah, missed that.
So I've found what I believe to be what Vadim meant by 'cloth tape', while there are several types out there I believe what he means is something along the lines of 'gaffers tape'. Basically similar to duct tape but much more useful for most all uses. Gaffers tape has good abrasive resistance (check) and is designed to hold firmly and resist water (check), while removing cleanly without adhesive residue left on the blade or objects (check). I ordered some of the following tape from ProTapes @ BHPhoto.com, should be here tomorrow and I'm going to give it a try.
https://www.protapes.com/products/pro-spike
I recall a reference Vadim made to his choice of tape. I do not remember the specific tape, only that it was a medical tape and manufactured in the UK. (In younger days, Vadim was a Medical Doctor.). Gaffer's tape is great stuff, and may actually work better. I have a roll of gaffer's tape I purchased more than ten years ago. It has many uses and works very well, much better than duct tape in many cases.
Incidentally, a gaffer is the person who sets up the lights on movie sets.
Please keep us posted as to how well your gaffer tape works.
Ken
I had come across a good bit of medical tape also when searching cloth tape, I was wondering if it could have been because most medical tape is white. I do think the gaffers tape will work quite well, I bought the 1/2" width which I feel will be easiest to work with to not have to make as many tears to resize fitting at the ricasso for protection. Also 1/2" on either side of the blade where the KJ-45 clamps should be enough to prevent the friction damage I've noted.
I am hesitant to try putting the tape on the gripping surfaces of the KJ-45, however, My fear is that removal may be tricky if it doesn't work well and don't want to put excess force on the jig. I do have a use case where I cannot tape the blade with certain powder coat finishes that have a sort of spray on camo layer above the coating. I've seen people tape these blades and have the top camo layer come off.
Maybe using tape (with adhesive) is not the right solution. How about plain paper folded to cover both sides of your blade? Following the online class on the KJ-45, the blade clamping can be adjusted to fit the taper of the blade, thus spreading the clamping pressure over the entire area of the jig clamp. I wouldn't think these "shelf princess" knives would get heavy use or need much sharpening. Light clamping pressure should be sufficient. No adhesive should be necessary.
Ken
I tried this over the weekend and the tape did protect the blade, despite getting soaked pretty good. My only slight concern was that I had a bit of trouble making sure the blade was aligned just right in the KJ-45, it was hard to get even light on both sides of the blade between the jig clamp. I may try some paper as you mention but once it gets wet I suspect it won't do much... possibly some plastic wrap would be better in this way or wax paper.
I've been using Rite In The Rain waterproof paper (https://www.riteintherain.com/printer-paper-20-pound) for a number of years (decades actually), initially in the form of bound field notebooks, but more recently for Tormek sharpening accessories. I first got it for this latter use because regular copy paper would get ruined when it got wet. This was when I worked a couple of farmers markets (2018) and had signs and price sheets printed up and on the table near my T8, so they continually got soaked. I now really only use it for a reference card that has the shim data that I use for my modified SVM- jigs, for centering blades (ala Knife Grinders). It has come in handy, for example when my granddaughter needed paper for a project that would get wet.
This paper holds up beautifully when wet and can even be written on (field notebooks) if needed, which has not been an issue related to sharpening. Laser printing on it has held up to being saturated, but I don't know how inkjet printing would. Perhaps a bit spendy but it would be a workable solution for using paper as protection for blades in the jigs.
Rick
(https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5055.0;attach=6675)
I appreciate the tip on the write in the rain paper, I'll keep that in mind. I've also purchased a roll of 3M 5903 Stucco Masking Tape which has a polyethylene backing on synthetic rubber adhesive. It's claimed to remove cleanly for 30 days, not be affected by water and also be resistant to light abrasion. This tape is much different than the Gaffers tape and I had originally decided I would return it to Amazon but I'm thinking now it may work better. It seems both smoother and possibly thinner, both which may help with aligning the clamp of the jig properly.